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Boarding with The Key


Britney

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We purchased the Key for our upcoming sail on Allure. However, we’ve received only generalized information from Royal - nothing regarding boarding times. After we completed Checkin online, our online Royal cruise planner tells us to arrive at 1:30 pm.  This must not take into account our Key benefits, correct?

We’d love your advice as to what time is the earliest we should arrive to port in order to board as early as possible to maximize our key benefits for our 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise out of Fort Lauderdale? Thank you!

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Hey Britney,

Welcome to the message boards! Feel free to ask away with any questions you may have. Hope you're getting into Ft Lauderdale the day before you cruise. That way, you can show up at the terminal early, like 10:00, that's what the majority of us here on the message board do. With the Key, just look for the Key signs and follow them until you are on the ship. Don't worry what the cruise planner tell you. They won't single you out and say "so, you want to board early? well you must wash dishes first". (:3_grin:) We did the Anthem out of Cape Liberty, NJ this past July and we had the key. It was really great walking past everyone getting on board and while we were on board with priority seating for the shows and all the other Key perks. Enjoy your cruise and the Allure, we've been on her four times and love that ship! :27_sunglasses:

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Thank you so much rjac! We really appreciate the advice as that was more helpful than anything Royal has told us so far. We’ll plan on 10:00 am! Thank you again!

We will be arriving in Fort Lauderdale a few days early, and we are very excited! It will be our first Royal Cruise, but we’ve sailed with many other lines before. 

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Thanks for the info. We have The Key in October and wondered if 10 was too early. We also have not received any info/instructions. We wondered about where to take our luggage and lunch on embarkation day. It looks like it will all take place in the MDR. 

 

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What do you all do when you board early?  

I flew into Seattle the day before the sailing.  I took the earliest time slot offered by the hotel shuttle to the Port.  I was on the ship by around 11.  After having lunch at the Windjammer, I had nothing else to do... other than check the fire doors to see of they had been opened.

I have now realized I hadn’t missed much all those times I boarded after lunch in my previous cruises.

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20 minutes ago, RatedPG said:

What do you all do when you board early?  

I flew into Seattle the day before the sailing.  I took the earliest time slot offered by the hotel shuttle to the Port.  I was on the ship by around 11.  After having lunch at the Windjammer, I had nothing else to do... other than check the fire doors to see of they had been opened.

I have now realized I hadn’t missed much all those times I boarded after lunch in my previous cruises.

Really? We boarded Ovation at 10:45 and I had a blast getting to know a few of the bartenders, visiting with other guests, exploring the ship, the entire afternoon. No way would I wait to get on the ship and start my vacay!

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3 hours ago, Britney said:

We purchased the Key for our upcoming sail on Allure. However, we’ve received only generalized information from Royal - nothing regarding boarding times. After we completed Checkin online, our online Royal cruise planner tells us to arrive at 1:30 pm.  This must not take into account our Key benefits, correct?

We’d love your advice as to what time is the earliest we should arrive to port in order to board as early as possible to maximize our key benefits for our 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise out of Fort Lauderdale? Thank you!

When you board with the Key in FLL, make sure you use the right entrance so that you can also benefit from expedited security that the key allows. There will be an entrance past the main entrance that is for suites and also has a sign for Key guests too. Once you get through security, there will be some windows or people standing around with iPads. Just tell them you have the key and they can send you to the right person to get checked in and on your way to the waiting area. It’s pretty well labeled where you go. 549AE474-5547-4218-BACB-B644BDB76E10.thumb.jpeg.079d640dbd87f42a5fc27bb6d8426b9f.jpeg

If I recall correctly, the key seating area was just beyond the suite area (sectioned off area with awnings) and there was a blue sign with a white key on it directing you. You will wait there until they start boarding the ship. The order will be back to back cruisers (unannounced....you just see some people get off for a few minutes and then return on) suites/pinnacles, and then Key. 

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10 hours ago, RatedPG said:

What do you all do when you board early?  

I flew into Seattle the day before the sailing.  I took the earliest time slot offered by the hotel shuttle to the Port.  I was on the ship by around 11.  After having lunch at the Windjammer, I had nothing else to do... other than check the fire doors to see of they had been opened.

I have now realized I hadn’t missed much all those times I boarded after lunch in my previous cruises.

We camp out by the pool and pool bar all day long. We work very hard all year so when we have vacation, it’s total relaxation.

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10 hours ago, spiralqueen said:

When you board with the Key in FLL, make sure you use the right entrance so that you can also benefit from expedited security that the key allows. There will be an entrance past the main entrance that is for suites and also has a sign for Key guests too. Once you get through security, there will be some windows or people standing around with iPads. Just tell them you have the key and they can send you to the right person to get checked in and on your way to the waiting area. It’s pretty well labeled where you go. 549AE474-5547-4218-BACB-B644BDB76E10.thumb.jpeg.079d640dbd87f42a5fc27bb6d8426b9f.jpeg

If I recall correctly, the key seating area was just beyond the suite area (sectioned off area with awnings) and there was a blue sign with a white key on it directing you. You will wait there until they start boarding the ship. The order will be back to back cruisers (unannounced....you just see some people get off for a few minutes and then return on) suites/pinnacles, and then Key. 

Thank you so much! This is VERY helpful!!

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15 hours ago, Britney said:

Thank you so much rjac! We really appreciate the advice as that was more helpful than anything Royal has told us so far. We’ll plan on 10:00 am! Thank you again!

We will be arriving in Fort Lauderdale a few days early, and we are very excited! It will be our first Royal Cruise, but we’ve sailed with many other lines before. 

Here's some additional info, check out the pdf in this link:

 

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